For ideas on what to see on a tour of Metro Cebu,
watch my Cebu City tour video, on Youtube.

There is a Cebu
City, A Cebu island, A Cebu Province and a Metro Cebu.

The province of Cebu consists of 168 islands.

The main island in the province being the island of Cebu, which is
approximately 225 kilometres long and consists of many towns and
cities.

Some other prominent islands in the province being The Camotes
Islands, Malapascua Island, Bantayan Island and Mactan Island, the
location of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Cebu City is the provincial capitol of the Province of Cebu and is
located on the main island of Cebu.

Metro Cebu consists of 4 main cities.
The main cities in Metro Cebu are Lapu Lapu City which is on Mactan
Island. Plus 3 cities situated next to each other on the main island
of Cebu. They are, from North to South, Mandaue City, Cebu City and
Talisay City. Usually, the only way you can tell you have moved from
one city to another is a change in street signs.

This tour refers to Metro Cebu,

On the tour, you could visit a casino or a a
duty free shop. So, before you
leave home, you should make sure you have everything you need such
as camera and passport and are appropriately dressed for the places
you want to visit. That is, if you are male, you will need to be
wearing long pants and shoes to enter the casino. You will need your
passport for duty free purchases and as it is likely to be hot, have
shorts to change into. Not many public toilets have toilet paper, so
it is a good idea to bring some of your own. Also,
it is a good idea to bring water to keep you hydrated.

A good place to
start a Cebu City tour is Casa Gorordo,
a historical home in downtown Cebu City.

Casa Gorordo is
the home of the first Filipino bishop. It is set up as it would have been in the late nineteenth
century. You will see many interesting artefacts there including
furniture from the period and Filipino art.
Unfortunately, they do not allow photos. Casa Gorordo has toilets
and a small admission fee. For a small extra fee, usually you can
have a guided tour of the casa.

The pier area is close to Casa Gorordo.
So, after Casa Gorordo, pass
through the pier area. There is a road along the waterfront. To get onto
the road, go to pier
one. From pier one, drive along to pier three. Along this road, you
will see
many different and interest types of boats and ships.

After
checking out the shipping, head back to near Pier 1. That is where
you will find Fort San Pedro.

Fort San Pedro
is the first site
of Spanish/Western occupation in the Philippines. Originally the
fort was made of wood but was converted to stone some years later.
Laying around the fort you will see old cannons. The fort also
contains a museum with historical Spanish and Filipino artefacts.
One room has a model of the San Diego which sunk in 1600 plus pieces
recovered from the San Diego.
There is no filming in the museum but you can film the rest of the
fort. There are postcards and souvenirs for sale. The fort has public toilets and a
small admission fee.

In front of Fort San Pedro is
the Plaza Independencia. Most of the time it is relatively empty. On
Sundays, many people on their day off will hang out there. It has a
tunnel running underneath that completes the coastal road connection
from Talisay City to Cebu City via the SRP (South Road Properties).
Next to Plaza Independencia is Malacaņang of the South

From Malacaņang of the South, you can walk or ride to the Cebu City Hall. Near this spot are located the Magellan's cross,
The Basilica Minore
del Sto. Niņo (locally called Sto. Niņo Basilica) and the Sto. Niņo
Basilica museum.

Magellan's Cross was originally planted by Ferdinand
Magellan on 21st April 1521. Because of it's delicate nature, it is
now encased in tindalo wood. The building housing the cross has a
mural painted on the ceiling depicting the planting of the cross.
For those history buffs with an eye for detail, you will notice
that the cross in the mural is lashed together while a painting
housed in Fort San Pedro depicting the same scene has the cross
nailed together. There is no entrance
fee to see the cross however there is a donation box and expect to be accosted by numerous vendors
trying to sell belts, candles, guitars and more.

The Sto. Niņo
Basilica has no entrance fee. There is a donation box as you enter
and there is a donation box if you want to
use their candles. The candles available from the basilica are designed for
use with the candle holders. Don't bother with the candles for sale
by the touts as they look silly burning away beside the
rest. The inside of the church has many interesting
artworks, statues and decorations to see. It also houses the Sto.
Niņo, a doll of the baby Jesus. Expect a long line up to view the
doll and touch or wipe the glass casing housing it. Many Filipinos
will spend a short time in front of it praying. Filming inside the
Basilica is up to your conscience. I personally would not film
inside the basilica.
There are public toilets available and a shop for buying all your
Catholic necessities. The
attached Museum contains
many Filipino historical artefacts including clothing for the Sto.
Niņo doll from hundreds of years past plus some artwork. The museum
has a small entrance fee but no filming is allowed. If you are not
religious, stay away from here at special religious times such as
Easter, Christmas and Sinulog on the third Sunday in January. The
crowds are absolutely massive and you will wait in huge lines just
to get inside and then maybe not see anything.

The Carbon Markets
have been in existence since at least the nineteenth century and
maybe hundreds of years longer. They sell all sorts
of goods there from fresh food to clothing and religious items. You
can also dine there very cheaply. Keep your cameras ready for the Kalesas (horse drawn
carriages, also known as Tartanillas). The Kalesas are very rare
elsewhere in Cebu City but are used regularly in the Carbon market
are for moving passengers and goods.

After the Carbon Market area, pass by Fuente Osmeņa (the circle on Osmeņa
Boulevarde) and the Capitol building on your way to the Taoist
Temple. I don't stop at the Capitol building or Fuente Osmena but
passing this way is a more scenic and more interesting than any
other on the way to the Taoist temple.

The Taoist
temple is located on Canon Road in Beverly
Hills which is where some of the richest people in Cebu City live.
Before you can get near the temple, you have to pass a gate with
guard. He will take the license of the driver and hand it back as
you leave.
To get the best view of the temple you start at the bottom however
the temple has many steps. Special arrangements are in place for
disabled guests wanting to visit the temple. You enter at what I
would call the middle level of the temple complex from Third Street.
On the middle level is the main temple, toilets and a shop. The
upper level has more temples and some small pools with a fountain. The temple
complex has no entrance fee but there are donation boxes. You can
burn incense in the temples. There is no filming allowed inside each individual temple but filming from
outside is ok. Also, they expect you to keep quiet as this is a
religious complex.

After the Taoist
temple, proceed to the Top, which is a lookout overlooking Talisay
City, Cebu City, Mandaue City, Mactan Island and more. On a clear
day, you can see the islands of Leyte and Bohol. You can ring the
friendship bell at the Top. Ring 3 times for everlasting friendship The Top has about
P100 entrance for visitors and a smaller fee for locals. It has
public toilets, tables and chairs for dining and small store for
buying drinks and snacks.

From the Top, proceed to the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug. The hotel
used to contain two duty free shops but the supermarket style duty
free shop has now been transferred to the SM Mall North Wing. It
still contains one duty free shop (the duty free shops are where you will need your passport if
you want to make purchases). The Waterfront also has the US consulate and a casino which has
a
dress code. If you want to look inside the casino, you will need to
wear long pants, shoes and a shirt with sleeves. Because it is usually hot
while touring, you may want to wear shorts on the tour and carry
long pants to change into. There is an entrance fee for the casino
but no entrance fee otherwise. There are public toilets in the lobby
of the hotel. The small picture below shows the Waterfront Hotel in
Lahug, taken from the Top. It is the white building which looks like
a castle.

After the
Waterfront hotel, go past, or drop into the Ayala mall and/or the SM Mall. Perhaps choose
one of the malls to have lunch. Ayala Mall has a new terrace section
with many quality dining choices at a reasonable price. Certainly
the price will be well below what you would pay for an equivalent
meal in a westernised country.

These are the
two biggest malls in Cebu City and are both entertainment hubs with
restaurants, children's entertainment, cinemas, including an Imax
theatre and usual mall
shopping. The SM mall
also has a 10 pin bowling alley and a fun centre with bump cars
(dodgem cars). The Ayala Mall has a small food
court with low cost dining options while the SM mall's food court is
much larger and has many more low cost dining options.

From the malls,
proceed through Mandaue City across the
old bridge to Lapu-Lapu City where you can visit guitar
factories. Some of the guitar factories, such as Alegre, show you how they make the
guitars. After the guitars, head off to the Lapu-Lapu
monument. The Lapu-Lapu monument is situated at the site where
Lapu-Lapu's warriors defeated the troops of Ferdinand Magellan in a
battle on 27th April 1521 in which the explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, was himself
killed. You can see a depiction of the battle, a statue of Lapu-lapu
erected by Filipinos and a monument to Ferdinand Magellan erected in
the nineteenth century.

There is no actual fee to enter the shrine area but there are
donation boxes. The shrine area has public toilets.

Near
the Lapu-Lapu monument are many shell vendors selling an assortment
of shell souvenirs. There are also small stores for buying snacks
and drinks.

Cross
over the new bridge on your way back home.

The tour should take about 8 hours with lunch.

I used to be a partner in a tourism business in
Cebu City and we ran tours of Cebu, including the above Cebu City
Tour. Our driver for the tours was
Danny Noy. Danny is a taxi driver of many years experience and
has proved himself to be very reliable. Danny has his own business
now. If you would like someone to take you around on the
tour, Danny would be an excellent choice. Danny's website is here.

Start at Pier 1. Just to get a
glimpse of the shipping. You will see fast ferries and roll on
roll off ferries. If you walk far enough along Pier 1, sometimes
you will see motor yachts docked.

Fort San Pedro is right next to
Pier 1, so check it out next. It is the original site of Spanish
occupation in the Philippines, Originally a wooden fort built in
1565, it is
now made of stone. It has a museum on site. It has toilets
inside. Bring your own toilet paper.

In front of Fort San Pedro is
the Plaza Independencia. It is crowded with Filipinos on Sunday
but relatively empty every other day. You won't notice it but
there is a tunnel under Plaza Independencia to assist with the
flow of traffic from Cebu City to Talisay City on the SRP,
otherwise know as the Cebu Coast Road.

From there you can walk to
Carbon Markets, passing Malacaņang of the South on the way.
Malacaņang of the South is on the other side of the road to
Plaza Independencia on M.C. Briones.

Carbon Markets
is along M.C. Briones. Shop for bargains if you want. In the
Carbon markets area, you will see Calesas, otherwise known as
Tartanillas (horse drawn carriages). You can pay to go for a
ride.

Back track slightly along M.C.
Briones and go along D. Jakosalem Street. Until you can see the
Magellan's Cross dome to the right. The original cross was
planted there in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan, just before he
popped over to Mactan island and got himself killed by Lapu Lapu.
The original cross is still there but is now encased in tindalo
wood to protect it.

After checking out the cross,
move inside the adjacent Sto Niņo Basilica. The original church
was built in 1565 but burnt down twice. The current church
building was constructed in the 18th Century. There is a huge
amount of artwork to check out plus it is the location of the Sto Niņo doll. The doll of the baby Jesus. There is always a
long line up of Filipinos waiting to pray in front of it. If it
is a while since you have been to the Basilica, you will not
know that they moved all the prayer candle holders out of the
open square inside the church and relocated them outside. The
open square inside the church has been redeveloped with statues,
seating and a fountain. There
is a museum on site. There are toilets near the museum and
toilets inside the church on the far side of the open square
from the Sto Niņo doll, at the end of the corridor where most of
the painted art work is located. Bring your own toilet paper.

After Sto Niņo Basilica, walk
out the main entrance and straight along the short Zamora Street
to Legaspi Street. You will then be at the Cebu Metropolitan
Cathedral. To get inside turn right into Legaspi Street and go
in the nearest entrance.

After Cebu Metropolitan
Cathedral, you can stop off at the Archdiocesan Museum next to
the cathedral.

Continue past the Archdiocesan
Museum along Mabini Street street until it becomes Sikatuna
Street. This occurs on the corner of Colon and Sikatuna. At this
corner, you will be able to see the Heritage of Cebu nearby.

The Heritage of Cebu is a huge
statue in the shape of a ship's bow. With statues of historical
figures on the sides.

From Heritage of Cebu, you will
be able to see Sandiego Yap Ancestral House. It is an old wooden
building on the corner. It houses a huge amount of historical
artefacts.

After Sandiego Yap Ancestral
House turn the corner into L Jaena Street. Walk about one block
and you will be at the Casa Gorordo Museum. It is the former home of
the Philippines first Filipino bishop, Bishop Gorordo. The house
is set up as it may have been in the nineteenth century. It has
toilets and a gift shop in a separate building on the grounds.
Bring your own toilet paper.

It is an easy walk.

Distance to walk
from Pier One to Casa Gorordo is about 2 kilometres or a bit more than
a 1 mile.

How long it takes will
be completely up to you! If you take the time to stop and read every
sign and look at every artefact, it will take all day. If you want
to just breeze past everything, you may take as little as an hour. I
have personally tested the route several times. By myself and in a
group. In a group, the tour was 4 hours, with a 40 minute lunch stop
at Sunburst, which is a restaurant near the Cebu Metropolitan
Cathedral. It specialises in fried chicken but has many other cheap
dining choices. If you want to go to Sunburst, turn left into
Legaspi Street instead of turning right, after walking along Zamora
Street.

From Casa Gorordo, if it is
inconvenient to walk back to your accommodation, walk back to Colon.
There are many taxis on Colon that will use the meter. Do not walk
back to Pier 1, even though you will have noticed many taxis there.
The taxis at Pier 1 will not usually use the meter.

However, if you want to walk back to
Pier 1, continue along L Jaena Street to the end. Turn right
into M.J. Cuenco Avenue. Walk along M.J. Cuenco Avenue to the Plaza
Independencia. Turn Left into the Legaspi Extension and walk down to
pier 1. The total length of this trip, from Pier 1 back to Pier 1,
will be about 3 kilometres or 2 miles.

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